Brief
Course of Sicilian Language

According to G. Piccitto the orthography of the Sicilian language should be determined by the pronunciation of the spoken language. This would all be well and good, but in any language we find dialects, or inflections and slang. The Sicilian language is not immune to these problems, it has many, so called "parrati", that is dialects. Words, many times, are different from one town to another and pronunciation varies a lot on many parts of the island. Although many call the Sicilian language a dialect, it is not so. Sicilian is a language and as such it has its own dialects. The only problem, and it is a big problem, is that we do not have written linguistic rules to assert the Sicilian language as the standard language of Sicily. We have to have rules of grammar and of syntax where orthography and phonetics are an integral part of the process.

We have attempts at grammar and orthography, but not a full fledged study. It is funny that foreigners have always taken an interest in our language, in our history, in our literature, in our traditions etc., while we Sicilians have always taken for granted what we have, to the point that our language is dying, and with it will die our past, our history. I am sorry to say that this is simply shameful. Here, I am going to try to write a brief course of Sicilian language to expose it to the Sicilians of the United States and even of Sicily, hoping that some will take interest in learning our language, not only how to speak it but, above all, how to write it. My attempt will be at establishing some rules on how to write in standard Sicilian. Sicily is a country with its own language, its own government, and its own laws. Many other regions of Italy have already asserted their right to have their language considered the official language of their region. The Sicilians are, as usual, still in a lethargic and apathetic state towards the mother land and what it represents.